KARNATAKA Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday announced a ban on use of social media for those under the age of 16 years, aimed at preventing its adverse effects on children. Though a cross-section of parents welcomed the move, they are wary of the practicality of its implementation. “With the objective of preventing adverse effects of increasing mobile usage on children, usage of social media will be banned for children under the age of 16,” Siddaramaiah said while presenting the state Budget for 2026-27 here. However, he did not elaborate on how this will be implemented. In January this year, Karnataka Minister for Electronics, IT/BT Priyank Kharge had informed the Legislative Assembly that the State Government was holding consultations regarding measures to be put in place for responsible use of Artificial Intelligence and social media, especially among children.

 

The Central Government’s Economic Survey tabled in Parliament in January this year said age-based access to online platforms should be considered while also cutting down online teaching to avoid digital addiction. Manohar N H, a resident of Jalahalli in Bengaluru who has two school-going children - a 16-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl - said that restricting social media for children below 16 may be good in some ways, but implementing it would be difficult. “These days, teaching in many schools and colleges happens through apps. For instance, SSLC and PUC students-especially those in second PUC-already rely heavily on apps for classes and communication. Controlling social media use will be very challenging, particularly in government schools and colleges. The rule may be introduced, but I doubt it will succeed; the success rate may be only around 10 per cent,” he said.

 

Appreciating the move, Dr Saritha Nagaraj, Consultant Psychology and Child Development, Motherhood Hospital here said with this the risk of poor mental health among children and teenagers - including symptoms of depression, anxiety, poor sleep, and body image issues arising from unhealthy comparisons, which can further lead to disordered eating - will be reduced. “Their cognitive performance and emotional regulation are also likely to improve. Exposure to dangerous content will decrease, and this could help improve attention span as well as academic performance,” she added. Dr Rakshay Shetty, Clinical Director, Pediatric Services Head, Pediatric Intensive Care Services, Rainbow Children’s Hospital said that while there are a lot of disadvantages of excess use of mobile devices in children, considering its ill-effects on their psychology, at the same time it provides a lot of practical utility for parents, teachers and children. 

 

 

ANDHRA Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday said social media will be prohibited for children below 13 years of age within the next 90 days. Addressing the Assembly, the Chief Minister said they are actively debating whether to extend this ban to children between 13 and 16 years of age. “Definitely, we will make sure that within 90 days those below 13 years of age are not able to use social media,” said Naidu. The CM said his Government will take a call on banning social media for teenagers between 13 and 16 years. Last month, Andhra Pradesh Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha had told the Assembly that the Government is considering a legislation to bar school students from using social media. She stated that the sub-committee has met twice so far and discussed various issues at length.